Format for multi-artefact software packages

ABSTRACT

In an example embodiment, a solution is used to provide for a highly efficient application installer. A software packaging format, known as vSolution, is provided that allows software developers to ship multiple artefacts of different types in a single container. Unlike traditional mechanisms, this container does not contain a dedicated installer executable or any sort of installation routine. Rather, the container format encourages a declarative approach to describe what an installation routine should perform, via the organization of the artefacts based on content type and using a naming convention.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document generally relates to systems and methods for softwareinstallations. More specifically, this document relates to a declarativemulti-artefact software installation.

BACKGROUND

Cloud-based software applications typically are installed on applicationservers by software developers. This is typically performed by thesoftware developer for a particular software application creating aninstallation package that includes an application binary (the executableof the actual software application itself), an installer executable, andone or more software artefacts. A software artefact is a tangibleoutcome or effect of the software development process, and typicallycomes in the form of a file that includes information that will be usedto create a certain state for the software application once it isinstalled. This may include, for example, files including some sort ofcontent to be included or used in the software application, such asdatabase entries, schemas, static file content, Docker™ images. Itshould be noted that some programmers consider the application binaryitself to also be a software artefact, and for purposes of thisdisclosure the meaning of the term “artefact” will be used to cover theapplication binary itself as well.

The installer executable included in the software package is created bythe software developer, and as such each software package winds uphaving its own individually programmed installer executable. This iswasteful, as many applications have similar requirements for theinstallation procedure, and yet each application must have its owninstaller executable re-implemented from scratch. Additionally, thismakes the system error prone, as the additional work required to createindividualized installer executable increases the likelihood that anerror will be introduced into the system. Additionally, each installerexecutable must deal with many different potential configurations oftarget systems, which some programmers may not be familiar with,especially if they are new to the application server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example software installationcontainer in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system for installing asoftware installation container, such as the software installationcontainer of FIG. 1, in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a mapping in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for causing installationof a software application on an application server in accordance with anexample embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for installing a softwareapplication on an application server in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 6 is an example of a dependency graph in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of software,which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedabove.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows discusses illustrative systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine programproducts. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide anunderstanding of various example embodiments of the present subjectmatter. It will be evident, however, to those skilled in the art, thatvarious example embodiments of the present subject matter may bepracticed without these specific details.

In an example embodiment, a solution is used to provide for a highlyefficient application installer. A software packaging format, known asvSolution, is provided that allows software developers to ship multipleartefacts of different types in a single container. Unlike traditionalmechanisms, this container does not contain a dedicated installerexecutable or any sort of installation routine. Rather, the containerformat encourages a declarative approach to describe what aninstallation routine should perform, via the organization of theartefacts based on content type and using a naming convention.

At the application server, a “universal” installation procedure isimplemented that has dedicated handlers for each artifact type. The“author” of the application server software is able to create thesededicated handlers and identify the names that should be used toidentify content to be handled by each handler. The “author” of theindividual software package to be installed then organizes theinstallation content into folders based on these names.

The term “author” shall be interpreted broadly to mean any person, groupof people, or entity that creates software. In the case of applicationserver software, the software is typically part of a software frameworkthat provides facilities to create web applications and a serverenvironment to run those applications. Applicant server frameworkscontain a comprehensive software layer model. The application serveracts as a set of components accessible to a software developer throughan Application Program Interface (API) defined for the platform itself.As such, the “author” of the application server software often is alsothe provider of the server itself, but that is not always necessarilythe case.

The individual software packages to be installed are then created bytheir own “authors”, also being a person, group of people, or entitythat acts to create the packages. In an example embodiment, theinstallation package for software to be installed on the applicationserver is stored in a container. Software containers are a form ofoperating system virtualization where a running container includes aminimum amount of operating system resources, memory, and/or servicesrequired to run an application. An example of software containers areDocker™ containers. Docker™ provides a common toolset, packaging model,and deployment mechanism to simplify the containerization anddistribution of applications.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example software installationcontainer 100 in accordance with an example embodiment. Each softwareapplication to be installed will have its own software installationcontainer 100, created by the author of the software application. Thesoftware installation container 100 contains a metadata portion 102. Themetadata portion 102 contains metadata about the software applicationcorresponding to the software installation container 100. This metadatamay include the name of the software application, the version number ofthe software application, an identification of the author of thesoftware application, and a list of software installation containerdependencies (if any). This list of software installation containerdependencies identifies other software installation containers that needto be installed prior to this particular software installation container100. For example, if the software installation container 100 is a patchor plug-in for a word processing program, this metadata portion 102 ofthe software installation container 100 may indicate a dependency onanother software installation container corresponding to the wordprocessing program, indicating that the word processing program needs tohave been installed prior to the patch or plug-in.

The software installation container 100 also contains solution content104. This solution content 104 includes one or more content type folders106A-106N. Each content type folder 106A-106N corresponds to a differentcontent type to be included in the installation. The different contenttypes are defined at the application-server level, such that anapplication server will, as will be seen, define a number of differentcontent types and names corresponding to those content types, as well ascorresponding content type handlers. This provides flexibility to theauthor of the application server software to incorporate custom orunique content types. As will be seen later in this disclosure, thecontent type folders 106A-106N are each named in accordance with apreset name or naming convention defined by the application serversoftware author. The individual software author creating the softwareinstallation container 100 uses these names or naming conventions whencreating the content type folders 106A-106N.

Each artefact of a particular content type is stored in the folder106A-106N corresponding to that content type. Thus, artefacts 108A-108Nare of content type 1 (stored in content type folder 106A), whileartefacts 110A-110N are of content type N (stored in content type folder106N).

Notably absent from this software installation container 100 is any sortof installation executable. What this means is that the individualsoftware author did not need to create a dedicated installation programto install the software. As described earlier, such dedicatedinstallation programs typically rely on the software application authorhaving detailed knowledge about the types of operating systems on whichthe software application will be installed and the underlyinginstallation requirements of those operating systems. They also thenrely on the software application author taking the time to actuallycreate an installation executable to include with the softwareinstallation package. Providing a mechanism for the software applicationauthor to create an installation package without an installationexecutable thus eliminates those drawbacks.

The software installation container 100 may be stored in serialized andcompressed format, such as a tar.gz file. A tar.gz file, also known as atar file or a tarbal, is a collection of files. The archive data setscreated by tar programs contain various file system parameters, such asname, time stamps, ownership, file access permissions, and directoryorganization.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system 200 for installing asoftware installation container, such as the software installationcontainer 100 of FIG. 1, in accordance with an example embodiment. Anapplication server 202 operates in a cloud 204 within the system 200.The application server author 206 creates an installer 208. Thisinstaller 208 acts to install software installation containers. Theinstaller 208 contains an installation component 210, which may beviewed as a universal installation component as it is capable ofinstalling software installation containers of many different types andsources. The installer 208 also includes a series of content typehandlers 212A-212N, each content type handler 212A-212N defining howcontent of a corresponding type should be installed. The installer 208also includes a mapping 214 between content type names and content typehandlers, which can be referred to when determining which content typehandler to use to install content corresponding to a particular contenttype name.

The application server 202 further includes a repository 216 of softwareinstallation containers, such as the software installation container 100of FIG. 1. When a software developer creates a software installationcontainer 100 corresponding to a particular software application, he orshe may access (either directly or indirectly) the mapping 214 todetermine the available content type names for this application server202. Any content type name contained within the mapping 214 would have acorresponding content type handler 212A-212N and therefore would be anavailable content type name. The software developer then organizes thesoftware artefacts for the software application (including theapplication binary) into one or more of the folders 106A-106N in thesoftware installation container 100 corresponding to the appropriatecontent types. Thus, for example, any executables may be stored in a“file” folder, while any database tables may be stored in a “database”folder. The software developer also then stores the correspondingmetadata in the metadata portion 102 of the software installationcontainer 100. At that point, the software developer can upload thesoftware installation container 100 to the repository 216 for storage.

At installation time, the installer 208 may be activated in order toinstall a particular software installation container 100 stored in therepository 216. Prior to the actual installation beginning, first themetadata may be validated. This validation can include dependency andnon-dependency validation routines. The dependency validation routinesensure that any dependencies should be resolved. Specifically, adependency management component 218 retrieves the metadata stored in themetadata portion 102 of the retrieved software installation container100. This metadata, as described earlier, identifies any other softwareinstallation containers that the retrieved software installationcontainer 100 depends on. The dependency management component 218 thenresolves these dependencies to determine an installation order for oneor more of the software installation containers in the repository 216.In a simple case, the retrieved software installation container 100 mayidentify a single other software installation container that it dependson, with that other software installation container not identifying anydependencies of its own. In this case, the dependency managementcomponent 218 determines whether or not the other software installationcontainer has already been installed and, if it has not, installs itprior to installing the retrieved software installation container 100.In more complicated cases, the other software installation containers onwhich the retrieved software installation container 100 depends containdependencies of their own. In this case, the dependency managementcomponent 218 may create a dependency graph with each node in the graphrepresenting a different software installation container and the edgesbetween the nodes representing dependencies. This graph may then betraversed to determine an ordering of installation of the softwareinstallation containers that will not violate any of the dependencies.

Once all the other software installation containers on which theretrieved software installation container 100 depends have beeninstalled, the installer 208 may execute the installation component 210,which performs the actual installation, assuming the metadata hasotherwise been validated. Specifically, the non-dependency validationroutines may be executed to ensure that the metadata is valid in other,non-dependency-related, aspects. These other aspects may include, forexample, validating that a database schema is correct, file names andother text are in proper format, and scanning for malicious code. Thesenon-dependency validation routines may be executed prior to, in parallelwith, or subsequent to the dependency validation routines. Once both thenon-dependency validation routines and the dependency validationroutines have been completed, the installer 208 may proceed to executingthe installation component 210 to perform the actual installation.

This involves parsing the content stored in the content type folders106A-106N and, for each piece of content, using the mapping 214 toidentify the content type handler 212A-210N corresponding to the name ofthe content type folder 106A-106N in which the piece of content isstored. Then, the piece of content may be passed to the correspondingcontent type handler 212A-212N to perform the installation of the pieceof content based one or more procedures outlined in the correspondingcontent type handler 212A-212N.

It should be noted that while this figure only depicts two content typehandlers 212A-212N, in example embodiments there may be any number ofcontent type handlers and, in fact, there would typically be morecontent type handlers 212A-212N than there are content type folders106A-106N in any particular container (or at least the same number ofcontent type handlers as content type folders). This would permit eachcontent type folder 106A-106N to map to a different unique content typehandler 212A-212N.

In an example embodiment, the application server author 206 creates notjust the installation component 210, which comprises a series ofprocedures executable to handle installation of software installationcontainers, but also creates the content type handlers 212A-212N and themapping 214. The application server author 206 may create a differentcontent type handler 212A-212N for each content type the applicationserver author 206 sees as possibly being installed on the applicationserver 202. This may be based on the application server author's 206 ownknowledge of the types of software that will be installed on theapplication server 202 as well as the capabilities of the applicationserver 202 itself and the cloud 204 environment in which it operates.For example, the application server 202 may not be capable of handlingcertain types of data due to processing and network bandwidthlimitations, and in such cases the application server author 206 maydeliberately exclude content type handlers for those certain types ofdata (as well as omitting the corresponding content types from themapping 214).

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a mapping 214 in accordance with anexample embodiment. This depicts a simple mapping 214 comprising a tableof two columns 300, 302. In some example embodiments a moresophisticated mapping 214 may be used to reduce storage requirements orincrease access speed. Column 300 contains folder names corresponding todifferent content types. Column 302 contains content type handleridentifications. The presence of a particular folder name in column 300of a particular row and a particular content type handler identificationin column 302 of that same particular row identifies the particularfolder name as being mapped to the particular content type handleridentification. Thus, when the installation component 210 accesses themapping 214 to identify the content type handler to use to handle datain a particular folder, it will look up the corresponding folder name incolumn 300 and then retrieve the content type handler identification inthat same row. The content type handler identification is then used toaccess the appropriate content type handler.

Examples of more sophisticated mapping 214 data structures include hashtables or other encoded data structures.

Since the application server author 206 creates the mapping 214, theapplication server author 206 is essentially in control of the namingconvention used for the folders. Thus, the mapping 214 will contain theexact name that is to be used for a folder name for a folder containingcontent of a particular type. In that way, the software applicationauthor 220 can access this mapping 214 when creating the softwareinstallation container 100 to obtain the folder names with which tocreate the corresponding folders. Alternatively, these names may becommunicated to the software application author 220 via a differentmechanism, such as through a “requirements” summary provided to thesoftware application author 220 providing a description of therequirements of installing software on the application server 202.

In an example embodiment, the content type handlers 212A-212N implementa common interface:

-   -   Install(context, content)=>result

The context value contains information about the installation context,such as the name and version of the installed software package. Thecontent variable contains the serialized software package content. Thecorresponding content type handlers 212A-212N implement specific logicto install the provided artefacts to the system, as defined by theapplication server author 206. For example, a content type handler thathandles the installation of file artefacts would copy the filescontained in the corresponding folder to the hard drive. A content typehandler that handles the installation of database artifacts, however,would create the database entities contained in the corresponding folder(e.g., tables, views, stored procedures).

The process permits a software packaging format that allows multipleartefacts of different types to be handled without using dedicatedinstallation routines for each software package. The installationprocedure is implemented only in the target application server and notin the individual software packages. This frees the software applicationauthor 220 from having to deal with many different configurations oftarget systems. Indeed, the software application author 220 need noteven have knowledge or understanding of how the application server 202will actually handle installation of the content types.

In an example embodiment, the above techniques may be applied in a datahub environment. A data hub environment is a cloud-based solution thatprovides graphical user interface-based data pipeline capabilities tointegrated data among and between various data platforms. The data hubenvironment can integrate this data without requiring it to be moved,and can store the summarized aggregated data in an in-memory database.In such an environment, the software installation containers describedearlier can have one of many different uses for software containers,which may be implemented as, for example, Docker™ containers. Kubernetesorchestration technologies can be used to deploy the docket containers.

Docker™ is a tool for creating, deploying, and running applicationsusing containers. Kubernetes is a container orchestration system forautomating application deployment, scaling, and management.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 400 for causinginstallation of a software application on an application server inaccordance with an example embodiment. At operation 402, a softwareinstallation container is created for a software application. Atoperation 404, a metadata portion of the software installation containeris formed. The metadata portion contains information about the softwareapplication. This may include dependency information specifying one ormore dependencies among the software application and one or moreadditional software applications. In an example embodiment, thesedependencies are provided in list format, with each dependency specifiedas an identification of the other software application or applicationson which the software application corresponding to the softwareinstallation container depend(s).

At operation 406, a plurality of different folders are created in thesoftware installation container. Each folder corresponds to a differentcontent type and has a name in compliance with a naming conventionspecified by an application server software. In some exampleembodiments, the naming convention is an explicitly provided name thatcorresponds to the content type at issue, while in other exampleembodiments, the naming convention is a set of rules or constraintsindicating how the folder(s) should be named. The naming convention maybe specified, for example, in a mapping.

At operation 408, content of multiple different content types pertainingto the software application is stored in the folders corresponding torespective content types in the software installation container. Thiscontent may be software artefacts required for installation of thesoftware application.

At operation 410, the software installation container, which lacks aninstallation executable, may be uploaded to a repository of anapplication server running the application server software forinstallation.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 500 for installing asoftware application on an application server in accordance with anexample embodiment. At operation 502, a software installation containerfor a software application is received at the application server. Thesoftware application container includes metadata and a plurality ofcontent folders, each content folder containing a different type ofcontent, but lacks an installation executable.

At operation 504, the software installation container is stored in arepository. In some example embodiments the repository is stored on theapplication server itself, while in other example embodiments therepository is a separate component accessible to the application server.

At this point, an installation component on the application server canbe executed. The installation component is not customized for thisparticular software installation container but rather is able to installsoftware applications stored in many different software installationcontainers. At operation 506, the software installation container isretrieved from the repository.

At operation 508, a non-dependency validation check is performed on thesoftware installation container. This may include, for example,validating that a database schema is correct and file names and othertext are in proper format, and scanning for malicious code. If thenon-dependency validation check fails, then the method 500 ends and thesoftware application cannot be installed.

Otherwise, at operation 510, dependency information specifying one ormore dependencies among the software application and one or more othersoftware applications is retrieved from the metadata stored in thesoftware installation container. Then, at operation 512, a dependencygraph is created based on the dependency information. At operation 514,the dependency graph is traversed to form an ordering of softwareapplications to be installed. At operation 516, it is determined if allsoftware applications earlier in the ordering than the softwareapplication corresponding to the software application container havebeen installed. If not, then the method 500 does not proceed withinstalling the software application until they are.

Once all software applications earlier in the ordering than the softwareapplication corresponding to the software application container havebeen installed, then a loop is begun for each content folder in theplurality of content folders in the software installation container. Atoperation 518, an identification (such as the name) of the contentfolder is compared to a mapping to determine a content type handlercorresponding to content of a type stored in the content folder. Thismay include using an identification of the content type handler storedin the mapping to identify a location of the content type handler on theapplication server. At operation 520, content stored in the folder isfed to the determined content type handler. The determined content typehandler executes operations defined in the determined content typehandler to install content of the type stored in the current folder onthe application server.

At operation 522, it is determined if there are any more content foldersin the plurality of content folders. If not, then the method 500 ends.If so, however, then the method 500 loops back to operation 518 for thenext content folder in the plurality of content folders.

FIG. 6 is an example of a dependency graph 600 in accordance with anexample embodiment. Here, application A 602 is dependent on bothapplication B 604 and application C 606. Application C 606 is itselfdependent on applications D and E. This dependency graph 600 may havebeen formed from metadata retrieved from a software installationcontainer for application A (which may have indicated that application Awas dependent on application B and application C) and from metadataretrieved from a software installation container for application C(which may have indicated that application C was dependent onapplication D and application E). The metadata in the softwareinstallation containers for application B, application D, andapplication E may have listed no dependencies. Here the dependency graph600 is constructed as a directed graph, as the edges are unidirectionaland indicate a dependency on the node at the end of the edge by the nodeat the beginning of the edge.

Once the dependency graph 600 has been formed, it can be traversed atany stage to obtain an ordering. The ordering may be the inverse of thetraversal route if the route begins with the top node in the graph andworks its way down through each of the paths. For example, a commontraversal route might be to start at application A 602, progress toapplication B 604, and then, since that is a dead end, progress back upand then down to application C 606, then to application D 608, and then,since that is a dead end, progress back up and then down to applicationE 610 and then end since that is a dead end and no more nodes are leftto be traversed. As such, the traversal route was application A 602,application B 604, application C 606, application D 608, application E610. The reverse of this route, and hence the ordering, would be E, D,C, B, A. Thus, if the system were looking to install application A, itwould need to wait until applications B, C, D, and E were all installedfirst before proceeding.

EXAMPLES Example 1

A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed bythe at least one hardware processor, cause the at least one hardwareprocessor to perform operations comprising:

-   -   creating a software installation container for a software        application;    -   forming a metadata portion of the software installation        container, the metadata portion containing information about the        software application;    -   storing content of multiple different content types in the        software installation container, the content stored in a        plurality of folders in the software installation container,        each folder storing content of a different content type, each        folder having a name in compliance with a naming convention        specified by an application server software; and    -   uploading the software installation container to a repository of        an application server running the application server software,        the software installation container lacking an installation        executable.

Example 2

The system of claim Example 1, wherein the metadata includes dependencyinformation specifying one or more dependencies among the softwareapplication and one or more other software applications.

Example 3

The system of Examples 1 or 2, wherein the multiple different contenttypes include an executable content type.

Example 4

The system of any of Examples 1-3, wherein the multiple differ contenttypes include a database content type.

Example 5

The system of any of Examples 1-4, wherein the multiple differentcontent types include a container image type.

Example 6

The system of any of Examples 1-5, wherein the naming convention isidentified by accessing a mapping stored at the application server, themapping specifying folder names for each of the plurality of differentcontent types.

Example 7

The system of any of Examples 1-6, wherein the application server islocated in a cloud environment.

Example 8

A method comprising:

creating a software installation container for a software application;

forming a metadata portion of the software installation container, themetadata portion containing information about the software application;

storing content of multiple different content types in the softwareinstallation container, the content stored in a plurality of folders inthe software installation container, each folder storing content of adifferent content type, each folder having a name in compliance with anaming convention specified by an application server software; and

uploading the software installation container to a repository of anapplication server running the application server software, the softwareinstallation container lacking an installation executable.

Example 9

The method of Example 8, wherein the metadata includes dependencyinformation specifying one or more dependencies among the softwareapplication and one or more other software applications.

Example 10

The method of Examples 8 or 9, wherein the multiple different contenttypes include an executable content type.

Example 11

The method of any of Examples 8-10, wherein the multiple differentcontent types include a database content type.

Example 12

The method of any of Examples 8-11, wherein the multiple differentcontent types include a container image type.

Example 13

The method of any of Examples 8-12, wherein the naming convention isidentified by accessing a mapping stored at the application server, themapping specifying folder names for each of the plurality of differentcontent types.

Example 14

The method of any of Examples 8-13, wherein the application server islocated in a cloud environment.

Example 15

A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions which,when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations comprising:

creating a software installation container for a software application;

forming a metadata portion of the software installation container, themetadata portion containing information about the software application;

storing content of multiple different content types in the softwareinstallation container, the content stored in a plurality of folders inthe software installation container, each folder storing content of adifferent content type, each folder having a name in compliance with anaming convention specified by an application server software; and

uploading the software installation container to a repository of anapplication server running the application server software, the softwareinstallation container lacking an installation executable.

Example 16

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of Example 15, wherein themetadata includes dependency information specifying one or moredependencies among the software application and one or more othersoftware applications.

Example 17

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of Examples 15 or 16, whereinthe multiple different content types include an executable content type.

Example 18

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of any of Examples 15-17,wherein the multiple different content types include a database contenttype.

Example 19

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of any of Examples 15-18,wherein the multiple different content types include a container imagetype.

Example 20

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of any of Examples 15-19,wherein the naming convention is identified by accessing a mappingstored at the application server, the mapping specifying folder namesfor each of the plurality of different content types.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 illustrating an architecture of software702, which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedabove. FIG. 7 is merely a non-limiting example of a softwarearchitecture, and it will be appreciated that many other architecturescan be implemented to facilitate the functionality described herein. Invarious embodiments, the software 702 is implemented by hardware such asa machine 800 of FIG. 8 that includes processors 810, memory 830, andinput/output (I/O) components 850. In this example architecture, thesoftware 702 can be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layermay provide a particular functionality. For example, the software 702includes layers such as an operating system 704, libraries 706,frameworks 708, and applications 710. Operationally, the applications710 invoke API calls 712 through the software stack and receive messages714 in response to the API calls 712, consistent with some embodiments.

In various implementations, the operating system 704 manages hardwareresources and provides common services. The operating system 704includes, for example, a kernel 720, services 722, and drivers 724. Thekernel 720 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and theother software layers, consistent with some embodiments. For example,the kernel 720 provides memory management, processor management (e.g.,scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings,among other functionality. The services 722 can provide other commonservices for the other software layers. The drivers 724 are responsiblefor controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware, accordingto some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 724 can include displaydrivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low-Energy drivers,flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., UniversalSerial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audio drivers, powermanagement drivers, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the libraries 706 provide a low-level commoninfrastructure utilized by the applications 710. The libraries 706 caninclude system libraries 730 (e.g., C standard library) that can providefunctions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulationfunctions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, thelibraries 706 can include API libraries 732 such as media libraries(e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of variousmedia formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), AdvancedVideo Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3),Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec,Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or Portable NetworkGraphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework used torender in 2D and 3D in a graphic context on a display), databaselibraries (e.g., SQLite to provide various relational databasefunctions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit to provide web browsingfunctionality), and the like. The libraries 706 can also include a widevariety of other libraries 734 to provide many other APIs to theapplications 710.

The frameworks 708 provide a high-level common infrastructure that canbe utilized by the applications 710, according to some embodiments. Forexample, the frameworks 708 provide various graphical user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks 708 can provide a broad spectrumof other APIs that can be utilized by the applications 710, some ofwhich may be specific to a particular operating system 704 or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 710 include a homeapplication 750, a contacts application 752, a browser application 754,a book reader application 756, a location application 758, a mediaapplication 760, a messaging application 762, a game application 764,and a broad assortment of other applications, such as a third-partyapplication 766. According to some embodiments, the applications 710 areprograms that execute functions defined in the programs. Variousprogramming languages can be employed to create one or more of theapplications 710, structured in a variety of manners, such asobject-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++)or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In aspecific example, the third-party application 766 (e.g., an applicationdeveloped using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) byan entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may bemobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™,ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In thisexample, the third-party application 766 can invoke the API calls 712provided by the operating system 704 to facilitate functionalitydescribed herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine 800 in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine 800 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 8 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine800 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions816 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 800 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. For example,the instructions 816 may cause the machine 800 to execute the method 600of FIG. 6. Additionally, or alternatively, the instructions 816 mayimplement FIGS. 1-5 and so forth. The instructions 816 transform thegeneral, non-programmed machine 800 into a particular machine 800programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in themanner described. In alternative embodiments, the machine 800 operatesas a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine 800 may operate in thecapacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-clientnetwork environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (ordistributed) network environment. The machine 800 may comprise, but notbe limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer(PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box(STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment mediasystem, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearabledevice (e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smartappliance), other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, anetwork switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executingthe instructions 816, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions tobe taken by the machine 800. Further, while only a single machine 800 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines 800 that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 816 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 800 may include processors 810, memory 830, and I/Ocomponents 850, which may be configured to communicate with each othersuch as via a bus 802. In an example embodiment, the processors 810(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction setcomputing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC)processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aradio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or anysuitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 812and a processor 814 that may execute the instructions 816. The term“processor” is intended to induce multi-core processors that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions 816 contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 8 shows multiple processors 810, the machine 800 may include asingle processor 812 with a single core, a single processor 812 withmultiple cores (e.g,, a multi-core processor 812), multiple processors812, 814 with a single core, multiple processors 812, 814 with multiplecores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 830 may include a main memory 832, a static memory 834, and astorage unit 836, each accessible to the processors 810 such as via thebus 802. The main memory 832, the static memory 834, and the storageunit 836 store the instructions 816 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 816 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 832, withinthe static memory 834, within the storage unit 836, within at least oneof the processors 810 (e.g,, within the processor's cache memory), orany suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by themachine 800.

The I/O components 850 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 850 that are included in a particular machine 800 will dependon the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones will likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include sucha touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 850may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 8. The I/Ocomponents 850 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion, and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 850 mayinclude output components 852 and input components 854. The outputcomponents 852 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 854 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 850 may includebiometric components 856, motion components 858, environmentalcomponents 860, or position components 862, among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 856 may includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram-basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 858 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 860 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detect concentrations of hazardous gases for safetyor to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components thatmay provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to asurrounding physical environment. The position components 862 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a Global Positioning System(GPS) receiver component altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 850 may include communication components 864 operableto couple the machine 800 to a network 8140 or devices 870 via acoupling 8142 and a coupling 872, respectively. For example, thecommunication components 864 may include a network interface componentor another suitable device to interface with the network 8140. Infurther examples, the communication components 864 may include wiredcommunication components, wireless communication components, cellularcommunication components, near field communication (NEC) components,Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components,and other communication components to provide communication via othermodalities. The devices 870 may be another machine or any of a widevariety of peripheral devices (e.g., coupled via a USB).

Moreover, the communication components 864 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 864 may include radio-frequency identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as QR code, Aztec code, Data Matrix,Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2D bar code, and otheroptical codes), or acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones toidentify tagged audio signals). In addition, a variety of informationmay be derived via the communication components 864, such as locationvia Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, location via Wi-Fi® signaltriangulation, location via detecting an NFC beacon signal that mayindicate a particular location, and so forth.

The various memories (i.e., 830, 832, 834, and/or memory of theprocessor(s) 810) and/or the storage unit 836 may store one or more setsof instructions 816 and data structures (e.g., software) embodying orutilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. These instructions (e.g, the instructions 816), when executed bythe processor(s) 810, cause various operations to implement thedisclosed embodiments.

As used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storagemedium,” and “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may beused interchangeably. The terms refer to a single or multiple storagedevices and/or media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and servers) that store executable instructions816 and/or data. The terms shall accordingly be taken to include, butnot be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media,including memory internal or external to processors 810. Specificexamples of machine-storage media, computer-storage media, and/ordevice-storage media include non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The terms“machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and “device-storagemedia” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, andother such media, at least some of which are covered under the term“signal medium” discussed below.

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 8140may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), awide-area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan-areanetwork (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of thepublic switched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service(POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, aWi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or moresuch networks. For example, the network 8140 or a portion of the network8140 may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 8142may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a GlobalSystem for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type ofcellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 8142 mayimplement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such asSingle Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-DataOptimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology,third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourthgeneration wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long-Term Evolution (LTE)standard, others defined by various standard-setting organizations,other long-range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

The instructions 816 may be transmitted or received over the network8140 using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., anetwork interface component included in the communication components864) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols(e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions816 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via thecoupling 872 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 870. Theterms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing andmay be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “transmissionmedium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any intangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying theinstructions 816 for execution by the machine 800, and include digitalor analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software. Hence, the terms “transmission medium”and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of modulated datasignal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal”means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium,” and“device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to includeboth machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the termsinclude both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated datasignals.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: at least one hardwareprocessor; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions that,when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the at leastone hardware processor to perform operations comprising: creating asoftware installation container for a software application; forming ametadata portion of the software installation container, the metadataportion containing information about the software application; storingcontent of multiple different content types in the software installationcontainer, the content stored in a plurality of folders in the softwareinstallation container, each folder storing content of a differentcontent type, each folder having a name in compliance with a namingconvention specified by an application server software; and uploadingthe software installation container to a repository of an applicationserver running the application server software, the softwareinstallation container does not contain routines or an installationexecutable to install the software application, the uploaded softwareinstallation container capable of being used by an installationcomponent of the application server to install the software application,the installation component capable of using a plurality of differentuploaded software installation containers to install a plurality ofdifferent software applications based on the metadata portion and thenaming convention.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the metadataincludes dependency information specifying one or more dependenciesamong the software application container and one or more other softwareapplication containers.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the multipledifferent content types include an executable content type.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the multiple different content types includea database content type.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the multipledifferent content types include a container image type.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the naming convention is identified by accessing amapping stored at the application server, the mapping specifying foldernames for each of the plurality of different content types.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the application server is located in a cloudenvironment.
 8. A method comprising: creating a software installationcontainer for a software application; forming a metadata portion of thesoftware installation container, the metadata portion containinginformation about the software application; storing content of multipledifferent content types in the software installation container, thecontent stored in a plurality of folders in the software installationcontainer, each folder storing content of a different content type, eachfolder having a name in compliance with a naming convention specified byan application server software; and uploading the software installationcontainer to a repository of an application server running theapplication server software, the software installation container doesnot contain routines or an installation executable to install thesoftware application, the uploaded software installation containercapable of being used by an installation component of the applicationserver to install the software application, the installation componentcapable of using a plurality of different uploaded software installationcontainers to install a plurality of different software applicationsbased on the metadata portion and the naming convention.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein the metadata includes dependency informationspecifying one or more dependencies among the software applicationcontainer and one or more other software application containers.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the multiple different content types includean executable content type.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein themultiple different content types include a database content type. 12.The method of claim 8, wherein the multiple different content typesinclude a container image type.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein thenaming convention is identified by accessing a mapping stored at theapplication server, the mapping specifying folder names for each of theplurality of different content types.
 14. The method of claim 8, whereinthe application server is located in a cloud environment.
 15. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors toperform operations comprising: creating a software installationcontainer for a software application; forming a metadata portion of thesoftware installation container, the metadata portion containinginformation about the software application; storing content of multipledifferent content types in the software installation container, thecontent stored in a plurality of folders in the software installationcontainer, each folder storing content of a different content type, eachfolder having a name in compliance with a naming convention specified byan application server software; and uploading the software installationcontainer to a repository of an application server running theapplication server software, the software installation container doesnot contain routines or an installation executable to install thesoftware application, the uploaded software installation containercapable of being used by an installation component of the applicationserver to install the software application, the installation componentcapable of using a plurality of different uploaded software installationcontainers to install a plurality of different software applicationsbased on the metadata portion and the naming convention.
 16. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the metadataincludes dependency information specifying one or more dependenciesamong the software application container and one or more other softwareapplication containers.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readable mediumof claim 15, wherein the multiple different content types include anexecutable content type.
 18. The non-transitory machine-readable mediumof claim 15, wherein the multiple different content types include adatabase content type.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the multiple different content types include acontainer image type.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the naming convention is identified by accessing amapping stored at the application server, the mapping specifying foldernames for each of the plurality of different content types.